Where are Union ministers, Manipur MP Alfred Arthur taunts in Lok Sabha

In a short maiden speech in the Lok Sabha which lasted for barely 10 minutes, Outer Manipur Congress MP Alfred Kan-ngam Shangshakwoshi Arthur demanded "justice for Manipur" suffering from ethnic strife and violence for the past 15 months. His passionate plea for 15 minutes’ time ("we have been suffering for 15 months, we have earned this time, we can surely be heard for 15 minutes"), however, could not be entertained, undoubtedly for paucity of time.

Like the other Manipur Congress MP, Dr Bimol Akoijam, Arthur, a Tangkhul Naga, also made a strong impression in the House and wondered why the prime minister was ignoring the small state with a population of just 30 lakh. “We have been listening to your (radio broadcast) Mann Ki Baat for the last 10 years. We are told that you can deliver anything you want…why then are our people suffering for 15 months? Why can’t they go home? Why don’t they have food and are forced to live in refugee camps…?” he asked.

Overtaken by emotion, the MP recalled that his own grand-uncle, Major Khaithing, had been instrumental in securing Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh for India. “We are Indian citizens; we are not betrayers…we have helped build this nation and it is our right to have your attention…,” he said.

Arthur recalled being part of a delegation that had called on the Manipur governor and offered two suggestions. Tangkhul Nagas in Manipur, he pointed out, had remained neutral in the ethnic conflict, siding with neither Meiteis nor Kukis. “I had therefore suggested that the government could elicit the help of the Naga community to reach out to both Kukis and Meiteis and evolve a solution." That suggestion, he lamented, has not been acted upon.

Among the several powerful points that he made, a few are as follows:

1. One of the two communities in Manipur accuse chief minister N. Biren Singh of having engineered the conflict. The chief minister does always speak of the need for harsh, punitive actions — "maarne ka, peetne ka baat karte hain" — but he is just one of the 50 Meitei MLAs in the Assembly. For the sake of peace, why cannot he be replaced with any of the 49 others?

2. Not one Union minister has been seen visiting Manipur since 3 May 2023 when the conflict broke. Where have they all gone? Since 2014, we would see at least one Union minister visiting Manipur every week. Why cannot they visit Manipur? Why doesn’t the PM want to visit Manipur?

3. The electorate has sent me to this august House not to listen to "long-winded speeches and fictitious figures"

4. Manipur is going through a crisis. It has today the lowest per capita income and the highest inflation. This year, we have had the worst floods in 35 years. Yet there is nothing in the Union budget for Manipur. “I have heard madam finance minister present the anti-people budget…she grins and smiles…I think she does not understand what we are going through in Manipur"

The fourth Tangkhul Naga from Manipur to be elected to the Lok Sabha (the last one was elected in 1977), Arthur did not mince his words, dealing a brutal coup de grace by asking the government: “If you cannot ensure justice and peace in Manipur, the smallest of states, what can you possibly do in this vast country?”

There was no response from the treasury benches, possibly because very few members were present, though the camera fleetingly focused on the grim face of Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar even as Opposition members thumped their desks.